Introducing gray
 Gray is the color of intellect, knowledge, and wisdom. It is perceived as long-lasting, classic, and often as sleek or refined. It is a color that is dignified, conservative, and carries authority. Gray is controlled and inconspicuous and is considered a color of compromise, perhaps because it sits between the extremes of black and white. Gray is a perfect neutral, which is why designers often use it as a background color.
How the color gray affects us physically
Religious & mythological associations with gray
- Gray is the color for Lent in Christianity.
- Gray is representative of mourning and repentance in Christianity.
Political associations with gray
- The Confederate Army wore gray uniforms during the Civil War.
Interesting information about gray
- The New York Times is sometimes called “Gray Lady."
- Gray represents non-involvement, giving it a formal authority.
- Gray is associated with intellect and the brain is composed of “gray matter."
- Gray is representative of pessimism.
- The human eye can distinguish about 500 shades of gray.
Gray in athletics and sports
- The "Grey Cup" refers to the Canadian Football League championship game and also to the trophy given to the winning team.
Popular phrases that include gray
- Gray market: the business of buying or selling items that are priced below what has been regulated
- Gray mood: an unhappy mood
- Gray area: caught between two differing views
See our list of popular phrases that include color...
Quotes about gray
- “Better gray than garishness.” -- Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
- “If I see everything in gray, and in gray all the colors which I experience and which I would like to reproduce, then why should I use any other color? I've tried doing so, for it was never my intention to paint only with gray. But in the course of my work I have eliminated one color after another, and what has remained is gray, gray, gray!” -- Alberto Giacomettii
- “The man who can see all gray, and red, and purples in a peach, will paint the peach rightly round, and rightly altogether. But the man who has only studied its roundness may not see its purples and grays, and if he does not will never get it to look like a peach; so that great power over color is always a sign of large general art-intellect.”
- “The fundamental gray which differentiates the masters, expresses them and is the soul of all colour.” -- Odilon Redon
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What it says about you when you buy a gray vehicle
There is no question that the vehicle you drive is an extension of your personality -- an unspoken but clear message to the rest of the world.
- The message you send by driving a vehicle that is Silver or Gray: Elegant, loves futuristic looks, cool.
From The Color Answer Book by Leatricce Eiseman with permission
See what the color of the vehicle you buy says about you...
Songs with gray in the title
- “Grey Ghost” by the Henry Paul Band
- “Grey Street” by the Dave Matthews Band
- “Touch of Grey” by Grateful Dead
- “Blue, Red, and Grey” by the Who
Gray in the garden
- The Jerusalem Sage has sweet-smelling gray leaves with yellow flowers during the summertime.
- The Salvia Leucantha Silver Edge has beautiful gray flowers.
Gray and our sense of smell
- The Magic Scents Crayons from Binney & Smith Inc. were introduced in 1994 with mostly food scents. However, there were numerous reports that children were eating the food-scented crayons, so the food scents were retired and replaced with non-food scents. The scent for the color gray became “campfire."
- Yankee Candle Company offers a variety of scented silver and gray candles. Among them are Sun & Sand and Sage & Citrus.
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